Ruth Rookie Gamer?

[sayhey24]

Did anyone else see this ebay auction? I will try to include the link below, but if it doesn't work, just search completed auctions of seller siliconvalet.
He just sold a lot labeled "set of 3 antique baseball bats", and one of them appears to be a Babe Ruth rookie bat. He barely mentions the Ruth bat in the description and if I recall correctly, doesn't even reference Babe Ruth. What's strange is he has relisted the other two bats (that's how I found the original listing). Because it's a buy it now, you can't see any indication of who the buyer is.
Do you think this possible Ruth rookie gamer really sold for a thousand dollars?

Greg

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Set-of-3-Ant...p2047675.l2557

[sicollector1954]

Saw that auction but if I remember correctly the center label stamping was dash dot dash on top and also bottom which makes it 1910-1915 markings. However, the center label also had it was made by Hillerich and Bradsby and not Hillerich and Son which I don't think makes sense if you go by Malta's book as that came later.

[VintageGamerN00b]

Bradsby didn't become a partner until 1916, so it's definitely not a rookie bat. Also, with no provenance, who's to say someone didn't just get a blank bat and stamp Ruth's name? While tantalizing, this one seems a little too weak on info to get involved with it. I'm interested in what some of the bat experts here think though. MGHPro?

[sayhey24]

Sorry, I should have said early bat, not rookie. My immediate thought was too good to be true and could somene have stamped the name Ruth on there later, but obviously the seller wasn't even selling it as a Babe Ruth game bat.

Greg

[sayhey24]

Just heard it's been authenticated by John Taube. Came out of an estate in Massachusetts along with a bunch of antique tools.

Greg

[yanks12025]

It's going up for sale next week at the national after it's restored.

[VintageGamerN00b]

My goodness. When did it sell? Can't believe I didn't catch it on my antique bat searches.

[yanks12025]

I think someone bought the lot and than another eBay person told the seller what they have. So the seller probably cancelled the sale and contacted taube or auction house.

[VintageGamerN00b]

You're right, because that same seller is selling the Parent and Williams bats separately. The Williams is a store model, and the Parent is Sanford, not a known pro model bat manufacturer. Do you have a link to anything about Taube authenticating it? Did they have factory records back then? It just seems so arbitrary with no provenance and four letters that anyone could've stamped. We've all seen black dash-dot-dashes out there.

[VintageGamerN00b]

What do you guys think about the Cy Williams bat? Has the "W" scratched in the knob but it's a 40CW, which makes it store model. Any idea what GPR and ACS stand for?